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Konerko last man standing from 2005 champs

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GLENDALE, Ariz. -- With A.J. Pierzynski's departure to the Rangers, Paul Konerko becomes the last man standing from the 2005 World Series champions. That honor doesn't surprise the White Sox captain, with the aggregate departures coming over an eight-year period.

"If you look at the past World Series teams, you probably find over a five-to-seven year period, guys get older and usually the winner of the World Series takes some older guys to begin with, so guys move on," Konerko said. "I don't think it's that big of a deal.

"Hopefully we can make a run here and challenge for another one before I'm done playing here. But I don't think about it too much. Until someone brings it up to me, it really doesn't cross my mind."

Konerko has an added distinction of being the oldest man on the White Sox roster, turning 37 on March 5. He doesn't feel that way, but humorously gets reminded of his stature by teammates.

"It's funny, I remember when I was coming up and when I was 21 or 22, there were guys I played with that when I was 12, I remember seeing them on TV," said Konerko, who mentioned that catcher Tyler Flowers has been giving him the most good-natured ribbing about his age.

"Now, some of those guys come up to me and say, 'When I was in junior high school, we went to one of your games' and now they are on your team," Konerko said. "It's kind of the circle of the life of the big leagues.

"I try to spin it and say to have that situation exist, it means I had to have gotten here through all the years. That's a cool thing. As a player or anything, you want to experience as much as you can in one area. Part of the experience of being a baseball player is to be in a clubhouse and be called old."